In The Dungeon
by Oriondruid
Summary: Professor McGonagall sent the older Slytherins to their Common Room in the dungeons during the Battle of Hogwarts, but was she right to mistrust them, and did they all stay there and hide? Very slightly AU.


**xxxxx**

**In The Dungeon**

By Oriondruid.

**Disclaimer:** With regard to the following story, the characters and settings in this story belong entirely to the works and 'world' created by our beloved J.K. Rowling and I am grateful that she so kindly allows us, her fans, to enter her world and 'play' for a while. This is an entirely amateur work and not for profit.

**Part One:** A change of heart.

It was the shame of it that made me so angry, the implication that we were not fit to be a part of the school!

McGonagall had banished us from the fight that was to come, without our even being asked if any of us would stand up for Hogwarts against The Dark Lord. We had all been 'tarred with the same brush', it seemed that it was obvious to her we were Slytherins, and therefore all on the side of evil! It had always been the same with McGonagall, you could actually hear the sneer in her voice whenever she mentioned our house name.

Sure Draco, Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle, along with several others of our fellow Slytherins obviously had 'dark tendencies', but just because one was a member of our house did not mean that person was automatically a 'trainee Death Eater'. Many of us loved our school, and wanted to fight to defend it, just as much as those in Ravenclaw, Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. It was intolerable that we should be so discriminated against and unjustly banished from the 'field of battle', just because of the actions and opinions of a minority amongst us.

No sooner had we got sent back to our Common Room than I gathered together those amongst us whom I knew would want to fight for Hogwarts, (in fact the majority of our year), and we demanded to see our new temporary Head of House, Professor Horace Slughorn, who had taken over when Professor Snape had become Headmaster. It had been noticeable that McGonagall had not been so quick to discriminate against him! He was fully trusted, having worked tirelessly and faithfully for Hogwarts for many years previously and was, in fact, helping to set up the school's magical 'shield'.

As soon as he was able to come Professor Slughorn met with us and he was fully in agreement that we had been treated abominably. He left, saying he would urgently raise the matter with Professor McGonagall and demand that those of us Slytherins who were 'of age' and wanted to fight for Hogwarts should have the same right to do so as the pupils of the other houses.

I would love to have been at that meeting! Whatever he said to her seemed to have been effective and our Head of House and McGonagall soon came into our Common Room with McGonagall looking even more sour faced and ill at ease than ever, now she was in 'Slytherin Territory'. Looking pained and with an expression as if she was sucking on a sour lemon she said;

"It has been drawn to my attention by Professor Slughorn that I have, perhaps, been a bit hasty in sending you all down here to shelter from the coming battle."

She continued, saying, "You should understand that believed I did so from the best motives but your Professor has convinced me to change my decision. However, just as with the other Houses, minors will still not be permitted to fight in the coming conflict, but perhaps I was a little hasty in trying to prevent all Slytherin pupils from taking part. So with a few 'exceptions' I have agreed with your Head of House that all Slytherin pupils who are 'of age' and wish to fight for our school shall be permitted to do so.

She gave a weak smile and finished speaking by saying, "I am sorry, in my earlier actions I think that I may have been expressing some of the same sort of discrimination as those who are about to attack us and for that I apologise. Good luck to you all in the coming battle and please be careful, we cannot afford to lose so many fine young people."

That final part of her 'speech' actually raised a slight cheer amongst our numbers and under the leadership of our new Head of House we headed up into the castle to take up our newly assigned defensive positions.

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**Part Two**: After the Battle.

I entered the Great Hall, stumbling over the loose rubble strewn about the place, the result of the fighting, now thankfully over. I made my way up to the sad ranks of those who had been killed, who were lying in rows upon the floor. The terrible price of 'victory'.

Looking at the all too many faces of the fallen one thing struck me above all other thoughts, that was that amongst the dead there was no discrimination. I saw that all the Houses were united in death as they had never been in life, the bodies of many I knew from my own House, as well as the others were lying side by side, with no attempt to 'sort' them. As I stared at the lines of the dead I became aware of a presence behind me and I turned and looked to see Professor McGonagall, looking as grief stricken as myself.

With tears in my eyes I said to her, "Do you see it Professor, do you see? If it had to happen then this is how it should be, this unity is the greatest tribute we can pay to our dead. This is how we must must rebuild our school. There must be no more of the petty hatreds and discrimination of the past, these people all fought and died for the same thing, no matter their minor and often imaginary differences, we owe it to them to build a better school, as well as a better world."

Professor McGonagall, also crying, but with a determined look on her face, took my hand and replied, "We will."


End file.
